Household refrigerator

ABSTRACT

A household refrigerator cabinet comprising a condensing unit compartment at the bottom thereof includes a full width air inlet at the front of the compartment and an air outlet at a rear corner. A serpentine tube condenser mounted adjacent and substantially coextensive with the air inlet occupies the front half of the compartment while the compressor is mounted in the rear corner portion opposite the air outlet. An air circulating fan positioned between the compressor and the air outlet draws air into the compartment through the air inlet and directs air transversely of the rear portion of the compartment toward the air outlet. Partition means between the fan and the air outlet define a muffle chamber having sound absorbing walls for absorbing compressor noises.

United States Patent Domingorene 1 Jan. 15, 1974 HOUSEHOLD REFRIGERATOR [75] Inventor: ilbert A. Domingorene, Louisville, 2 33; i ag g gfi zg [73] Assignee: General Electric Company, [57] ABSTRACT Louisville, Ky. A household refrigerator cabinet comprising a con- [22] Ffledi 1972 densing unit compartment at the bottom thereof in- [21 A 1 N 316,224 cludes a full width air inlet at the front of the compartment and an air outlet at a rear corner. A serpentine tube condenser mounted adjacent and substantially [52] Cl 62/455 62/285 62/291 coextensive with the air inlet occupies the front half of 51 I Cl 62/454 62/507 the compartment while the compressor is mounted in h rear corner portion ppo ite h air u e n ai 1 0 care 62/454 455 circulating fan positioned between the compressor and 2/506"5O7 291 the air outlet draws air into the compartment through the air inlet and directs air transversely of the rear [56] References portion of the compartment toward the air outlet. Par- UNITED STATES PATENTS tition means between the fan and the air outlet define 1,775.492 9/l930 Hull 62/455 :1 muffle chamber having sound absorbing walls for ab- 2,672,029 3/1954 Saunders... 62/454 sorbing compressor noises. 3,022,639 2/1962 Brown 62/285 3,162,023 12/1'964 Smith 62/455 5 Chums? 2 Drawing Flgures l s )7 5 l5 i'x/"wv'o /1 '/"/v/ v 1/ l W n A is d' I i4-ii 4 s \J \J V V g) U n J Y 3 0 1O 4, I 4 f p t 1i a{ a4 1( 1 1 ,6114,

HOUSEHOLD REFRIGERATOR BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In many modern refrigerators, the compressor and condenser are mounted in a condensing unit compartment at the bottom of the cabinet and a fan is provided for circulating air through the compartment and over the compressor and condenser. In the usual arrangement, such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,388,562-Harle, the condensing unit compartment is divided into side-by-side sections by means ofa longitudinally extending partition running generally from the rear wall to the front of the compartment and a fan mounted in the rear portion of the partition draws a stream of air inwardly through one side of the usual grill provided at the front of the compartment into cooling relationship with the condenser and compressor and discharges the air back into the room through the front end of the other of the two sections. While it has been common practice to line some or all of the walls of these two sections with sound insulating material such as glass woool, such lining does not materially affect the noise level, due probably to the relatively open air flow path and particularly the fact that both ends of the air flow passage open directly into the room.

A further problem with such forced air cooled condensing unit compartments has been the accumulation of dust and other foreign substances on the condenser which acts as insulation and materially lowers the condenser efficiency. The condensers usually comprise serpentine refrigerant tubing, provided with a plurality of closely spaced wire or plate type fins; the condenser being folded to form three or more superimposed sections or tiers in order to provide the required heat transfer surfaces within the relatively small volume provided by the air flow sections. Such a condenser is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,160,204Jones. Because of the relatively small cross-sectional area of these sections, the air velocity is high with the result that dust, lint and other foreign substances carried by or commingled with the household air stream is carried past the front portions of the condenser and collects on the rear, less accessible condenser surfaces. As a result and even though such condensers have normally been mounted in an accessible position adjacent the air inlet end of the air flow path, it is difficult for the user to remove the accumulated dust and other air-born substances from the rear portions of the condenser.

It is a general object of the present invention to provide an improved condensing unit compartment and an arrangement of refrigerator system components contained therein for significantly decreasing both the noise level and the dust accumulation problems.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a refrigerator cabinet comprising a top wall and side and rear walls defining a condensing unit compartment at the bottom of the cabinet, this compartment having a relatively large air inlet at the front which extends substantially the full width of the compartment. An air outlet is provided in one rear corner of the compartment. A condenser comprising serpen tine tubing provided with wire fins extends substantially the full width of the compartment adjacent the air inlet and occupies the front half thereof. The condenser is folded to V-shape with the apex of the V facing the air inlet. The compressor component of the refrigeration system is mounted in the rear corner of the compartment opposite the air outlet, and the fan means for circulating air through the compartment is positioned between the compressor and the air outlet so as to direct a flow of air transversely of the compartment towards the air outlet. The portion of the compartment between the air outlet and the fan is provided with partition means lined with sound absorbing material thereby forming a muffle chamber between the fan and the air outlet. By providing a condenser structure which extends the full width of the compartment, air flow'over the condenser is at a relatively low velocity and due to the shape of the condenser, dust collection is held to a minimum and is concentrated on the outer surfaces of the V-shaped front end of the condenser. Much of the compressor and fan noise is directed into the muffle chamber and absorbed by the sound insulating linings in that chamber.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING With reference to the accompanying drawing,

FIG. 1 is a horizontal sectional view of the condenser unit compartment of a refrigerator incorporating the present invention; and

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken generally along line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With reference to the accompanying drawing, there is shown a household refrigerator including a machinery or condensing unit compartment 1 in the lower portion of the cabinet. This compartment is separated from a refrigerated storage compartment 2 by an insulated wall 3 forming the top wall of the condensing unit compartment. The compartment 1 is further defined by the side walls 4 and 5 of the cabinet and a rear wall 6 and has an air inlet opening 7 at the front thereof. This opening extends substantially the full width of the cabinet and compartment and is usually provided with a decorative grill 9.

In accordance with the present invention, the condensing unit compartment 1 is provided with an air outlet 10 adjacent one corner of the compartment, the outlet 10 in the illustrated embodiment being in the rear wall 6 adjacent the side call 4. Compartment 1 also includes a transversely extending partition 11 spaced forwardly from the air outlet 10 and a partition 12 extending longitudinallyfrom the rear wall 6, these two partitions cooperating with the adjacent portions of the side wall 4 and the rear wall 6 to define a generally rectangular chamber 14 in the air outlet corner of the compartment 1. The remaining generally L-shaped portion of the condensing unit compartment 1, indicated by the numeral 15, houses the condenser and compressor components of a refrigeration system, the condenser being generally indicated by the numeral 17 and the compressor by the numeral 18. The condenser 17 comprises a serpentine refrigerant tubing 20 provided with a plurality of closely spaced wire fins 21. The passes of the serpentine tubing 20 extend substantially the full width of the compartment 1 or, in other words, are substantially coextensive with the air inlet opening 7 at the front of the compartment. The condenser is folded to a V-shaped cross-section, as illustrated in FIG. 2, with the peak or apex 23 of the condenser facing the air inlet 7.

The compressor 18 is positioned rearwardly of the condenser 17 and in the rear corner of the compartment 1 opposite the air outlet opening 10. A drain pan 24 is mounted below the condenser 17 and forwardly from the partition 11 for receiving drain water from the drain tube 25 in the insulated wall 3 communicating with the storage compartment 2.

A motor-driven fan for circulating air over the condenser and compressor is mounted in an orifice 27 provided in the longitudinal partition 12, this fan 28 being positioned to discharge air transversely of the rear portion of the compartment 1 or, in other words, in a direction generally parallel the back wall 6 of the compartment, the air flow being directed into chamber 14 and towards side wall 4 adjacent the air outlet 10. Thus, during operation of the fan 28 an air stream is drawn in through the full width air inlet opening 7 at the front of the condensing unit compartment 1 and after flowing in cooling relationship with the condenser 17 and compressor 18 is discharged by the fan 28 into the chamber 14 before exiting through the air outlet 10.

This arrangement of the air flow pattern and particularly the discharge of the air from the fan 28 into the chamber 14 has been found to substantially reduce the noise level of the operating compressor and fan. To aid in this noise reduction, the inner surfaces of the partitions 11 and 12 defining the chamber 14, as well as the inner surfaces of the adjacent side and rear walls of this chamber, are lined with a suitable sound absorbing material such as glass wool batting indicated by the numeral 30. For additional sound absorption, similar glass wool batts 31 may be provided on the lower surface of the top wall 3 above the condenser 17 and on the inner surfaces of the side walls 4 and 5.

The provision of the muffling chamber 14 and the air flow pattern established by the partitions 11 and 12 defining this muffling chamber have been found to provide a substantially lower operating noise level than the aforementioned air flow presently employed in most forced air cooled refrigerators. Much of this noise reduction has been found to be provided by the muffling chamber 14 and the arrangementof the fan opposite and in direct line with the compressor 18.

A further advantage of the air flow arrangement provided by the present invention is a substantial reduction in dust accumulation due to the lower velocity air flow through the relatively large air inlet opening 7 and over the condenser. This low velocity results from the fact that the inlet 7 has a cross-section at least twice the area of the outlet 10. Thus, the air flow through the compartment is controlled by the smaller air outlet 10. As a result of this low air stream velocity over the condenser, most of the dust collects on or adjacent the outer or exposed surfaces of the V-shaped apex 23 which is directly opposite the inlet opening 7 and can therefore be readily removed therefrom by the user.

While there has been shown and described a specific embodiment of the present invention it will be understood that it is not limited thereto, and it is intended by the appended claims to cover all such modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

1 claim:

1. A refrigerator cabinet comprising a top wall and side and rear walls defining a condensing unit compartment at the bottom of said cabinet and having an air inlet at the front thereof extending substantially the full width thereof;

said rear wall having an air outlet therein adjacent one side wall of an area smaller than the area of said inlet;

a fan for circulating air through said compartment, said fan being spaced laterally from said air outlet adjacent said rear wall with its axis generally parallel to said rear wall;

partition means defining with the adjacent portions of said rear and side walls a muffling chamber between said fan and said outlet; and

a condenser mounted in the forward section of said compartment adjacent and substantially coextensive with said air inlet.

2. A refrigerator cabinet according to claim 1 in which said muffling chamber is lined with sound absorbing material.

3. A refrigerator cabinet according to claim 1 in which said condenser comprises a serpentine tube structure folded to V-shape with the apex facing said inlet.

4. A refrigerator cabinet comprising a top wall and outer side and rear walls forming a condensing unit compartment at the bottom of said cabinet;

said compartment having a relatively large air inlet opening at the front thereof extending substantially the full width of said compartment and a smaller air outlet in one rear corner thereof;

a condenser comprising a serpentine tubing having its passes extending substantially the full width of said compartment adjacent said air inlet opening;

a compressor mounted in the other rear corner of said compartment rearwardly of said condenser;

a fan adjacent said rear wall and said compressor and spaced from said air outlet for directing a flow of air transversely of the rear portion of the compartment and towards said one rear corner; and

partition means lined with sound absorbing material defining a muffle chamber between said fan and said air outlet.

5. A refrigerator cabinet according to claim 4 in which said condenser is folded to a V-shape with the apex facing said inlet. 

1. A refrigerator cabinet comprising a top wall and side and rear walls defining a condensing unit compartment at the bottom of said cabinet and having an air inlet at the front thereof extending substantially the full width thereof; said rear wall having an air outlet therein adjacent one side wall of an area smaller than the area of said inlet; a fan for circulating air through said compartment, said fan being spaced laterally from said air outlet adjacent said rear wall with its axis generally parallel to said rear wall; partition means defining with the adjacent portions of said rear and side walls a muffling chamber between said fan and said outlet; and a condenser mounted in the forward section of said compartment adjacent and substantially coextensive with said air inlet.
 2. A refrigerator cabinet according to claim 1 in which said muffling chamber is lined with sound absorbing material.
 3. A refrigerator cabinet according to claim 1 in which said condenser comprises a serpentine tube structure folded to V-shape with the apex facing said inlet.
 4. A refrigerator cabinet comprising a top wall and outer side and rear walls forming a condensing unit compartment at the bottom of said cabinet; said compartment having a relatively large air inlet opening at the front thereof extending substantially the full width of said compartment and a smaller air outlet in one rear corner thereof; a condenser comprising a serpentine tubing having its passes extending substantially the full width of said compartment adjacent said air inlet opening; a compressor mounted in the other rear corner of said compartment rearwardly of said condenser; a fan adjacent said rear wall and said compressor and spaced from said air outlet for directing a flow of air transversely of the rear portion of the compartment and towards said one rear corner; and partition means lined with sound absorbing material defining a muffle chamber between said fan and said air outlet.
 5. A refrigerator cabinet according to claim 4 in which said condenser is folded to a V-shape with the apex facing said inlet. 